Second Hand Bravery
by phaedra's love
Summary: Faith and Wesley go to England under false pretenses.


Title: Second Hand Bravery

Author: Phaedra's Love

Fandom: BtVS/Angel

Pairing: Faith/Wes

Disclaimer: This all belongs to Joss.

When Wesley woke up in the morning the first thing that caught his attention was that he'd overslept by at least a few hours. The second thing that caught his attention was the familiar surroundings. The third thing that caught his attention was the limber brunette contorting her body in all sorts of positions he was sure he couldn't name at the foot of the bed. Generally he tended to wake up before the slayer who thought sleeping until noon was waking up too early, but he found that he didn't mind waking up to the sight of her. Long dark hair touselled and curling down her back in waves as she stretched her foot so high above her head Wes could feel himself getting hard as a rock again. It wasn't helping that she hardly ever refused to put on clothing when she performed her morning excercizes. Not that Wesley was one to complain about his slayer's bizarre methods, especially when they revolved around her being sans clothing.

"Mornin', Sleepy." She said with a grin, finally dropping her foot and turning to face him. "I thought you were never gonna wake up. Sleep good?"

"I did sleep rather well, considering the circumstances." He replied dryly, followed by the usual oomph that escaped his lips when he suddenly had a slayer straddling him. "Bloody hell, Faith. You could at least wait until I've woken up a bit, maybe had some tea."

"Blah blah tea. I'm a way better breakfast than tea even if we are in England." The Cheshire Cat grin slowly slid across her face and Wesley couldn't help but think that if this was hell he would gladly damn himself time and time again. "So 'fess up. I totally wore you out last night."

"Indeed. However, I think I may have to invest in some industrial strength tape for that mouth of yours if you plan on being that loud every night during our stay." Wesley threatened with a smirk of his own as she pouted. Taking advantage of the two seconds she seemed to be distracted he quickly reversed their positions so that he was on top of her, pinning her to the bed. If there was one thing to be learned from being Faith's watcher it was that he had to take advantage of every oppurtunity he could find to turn the tables on her. Of course, he was wise enough to know that this was just another game they played together. At any point she could lay him flat out on the floor and make him beg for mercy and occasionally he rather enjoyed those games as well.

"Thought you liked it when I screamed." She smirked and squirmed underneath him, raising her hips up to meet his and sending his senses into an absolute frenzy.

"I do." He whispered, leaning down to kiss her throat, and then her jaw before letting his lips press down on her's hard. Pulling away he met her eyes again sternly. "But not when my parents are sleeping down the hall."

"Oh c'mon, Wes. They were probably gettin' off on it. Your mom? Shit. You can tell she hasn't gotten laid in a wicked long time." He kissed her again quickly, cutting off whatever inappropriate thing she was about to say about his parents. He found it was rather hard to shag his slayer when she was talking about whether his parents had or had not had sex. Thinking about his parents in general was enough to kill any mood that might have been set by waking up in the vicinity of a beautiful naked slayer.

It wasn't his idea to come visit England. In fact, if he'd had his way he never would have bothered to see the place where he had been born ever again. His father had insisted however that not only Wesley come visit but that he also bring his slayer with him. Of course, his father had no idea that Faith had become so much more than just another weapon, a tool used by the Council to meet an end. It was strictly forbidden for watchers to cross that sacred line with their slayer, but Wesley had learned quickly with Faith that the usual rules of the Council were to be mostly flung out the window. She had always had a problem following rules, and he had eventually learned that one can do one's job without being held by the balls, at the mercy of a dozen old men all living across the ocean.

Pinning her wrists to the mattress, Wesley decided to forget about England and his parents for the moment and concentrate on the writhing eager beauty beneath him. He was just about to slide into her when a stern knock at the door made him practically jump out of his skin.

"Wesley!" His father's voice commanded and he felt himself automatically transformed into that sniveling little boy again just at that famliar tone. "It's eleven o'clock in the morning. Don't you think it's time you woke up? Your mother has brunch prepared downstairs. Open this door, boy."

Wesley's eyes widened as he quickly scrambled off of Faith and found himself shoving an armful of clothes into her hand. She had to leave, right now and return to her room or else his father...well, he didn't want to think about what his father would do. It didn't escape his attention that he was behaving like an errant teenager despite the fact that he'd never had this much fun as a teenager. Girls like Faith used to laugh at him back then.

"Wes, chill!" She hissed out at him as he started herding towards the closet quickly, clothes still bundled up in her arms.

"One minute, Father." Wesley called towards the door as he all but shoved Faith inside the closet. "Just stay in here and I'll get rid of him." He whispered to her and before she could argue with him he was shut the door in her face. She was going to be very unhappy about that and Wesley had the feeling he was going to pay for it later.

After he'd managed to pull on some suitable clothes he opened the door with a smile only to be greeted with the customary scowl from his father.

"Good morning." He tried so hard to smile but found it waivering as he met his father's disapproving glare.

"If you say so. I tried to locate your slayer but she seems to have disappeared, I trust you'll find the girl and join your mother and I downstairs for brunch and tea?" They were simple words but Wesley only heard one repeated over and over again. Failure.

"Yes, of course. I'll find her. Right away." Wesley nodded, inwardly cursing himself for acting like his younger self when he knew that he had changed so much since the days he had lived in this big cold house.

"Excellent. You and I also need to have a private chat about the way things have been going between you and the girl."

Wesley's eyes widened to almost saucer sized. How did he know? Had he heard Faith last night? Wesley had desperately tried to keep her quiet, had the bite marks on his hand to prove it.

"I-uh-what?" He finally managed to say, shaking his head and blinking slowly.

"She's willfull, she has no respect for your authority. I fear that you and she may be an unsuitable match, assuming we could find a watcher who can actually give her the discipline she needs." He said sternly still giving Wesley that look that implied he best not argue with his father.

"Father, I assure you that..."

"That's enough about that for now. I'll meet you downstairs." With that the old man turned his back on his son and headed for the stairs towards the kitchen.

Breathing a sigh of relief Wesley closed the door and turned around just in time to see another sour face. Faith walking out of the closet and fully clothed this time with an angry expression on her face.

"I really don't like him." She repeated for what must have been the tenth time. "Discipline? What the fuck? Like I'm not well-behaved or something."

All he had to do was give her a look.

"Fine. We'll just go down and tell your Dad that you spanked me and I'm all better now." The casual grin reappeared on her face but he found it did little to soothe his nerves.

"This isn't a joke, Faith. If the Council doesn't feel that I'm doing an adequate job as your watcher they will only send someone else to do the job." Wesley guessed he would probably be canned. Either that or sitting behind a desk with a stack of books and drinking boatloads of tea for the rest of his life. There was a certain appeal to that lifestyle but Wesley wasn't willing to abandon Faith just yet.

She sighed and shrugged as she walked towards the door. "Fine. Whatever. Why don't you just stop bein' a pussy and stand up to your Dad then? He's a total dick." She muttered before brushing past him and walking out the door and towards the stairs.

With a sigh he ran one hand through his hair. Time to go downstairs and put on the big show. The act. Pretend to be something that he had long stopped being and Wesley wasn't sure that he had the patience to pretend anymore.

An hour later Faith was wrinkling her nose and picking up unfamiliar food before sniffing it and shoving it into her mouth much to the Senior Pryce's consternation. Wesley was doing his best to nibble politely at his meal and make conversation with his mother. It wasn't until after they had eaten when Mrs. Pryce had begun to clear the dishes away and shuffled off into the other room that Wesley's father opened his mouth.

"There is something the two of you should know." He finally said sternly, focusing most of his attention on Wesley but every once in awhile letting his gaze drift over to Faith as well. "This was not merely a social call but an evaluation of how the two of you work together as a team. How well the slayer is progressing in her studies and how well you are doing helping her along."

Wesley could see out of the corner of his eyes Faith's expression growing darker. He couldn't blame her, being referred to as an object or a tool had never been Wesley's favorite part of how the Council decided to handle their numerous charges.

"I have decided, pending review of the Council that you, son should be removed as Faith's watcher and return to your studies in England. A new watcher will be sent to the United States to watch over the slayer."

It was like the wind had just been knocked out of him and Wesley had no words to say to his father. Becoming speechless was just another part of living in this house and it occured to Wesley that he was no longer a small child ready to be bullied and thrown under the stairs as punishment.

"This is such bullshit." Faith finally muttered, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I agree." Wesley said suddenly, unsure of where his sudden boldness had grown from. He had the feeling it was the dark expectant eyes watching him. Faith urging him to just stand up to his father. She was making him bold.

"That is quite enough, and this is the exact reason why I've made my decision." Wesley's father stood automatically too, trying his best to glower up at his son as Faith watched in rapt fascination.

"Your decision is just another pathetic excuse to control me and I won't have it anymore. I'm no longer a small child, Father. I refuse to let you bully me anymore. I will continue to be Faith's watcher and there isn't a bloody thing you can do to stop that." He hardened his jaw, afraid that any moment this sudden rush of bravery would leave him cold and shaken. Trembling beneath the stairs. He didn't dare glance back at Faith but he knew that she would back him up in an instant if it was needed. Just knowing that she was there made it possible for him to return the angry glare his father had set on him.

"Wesley, how dare you-"

"How dare I?" Wesley interupted his Father. "How dare you? You drag us off to England under false pretenses and then hoped to rip away all of the hard work I've been doing over in the United States. You know nothing of slayers, you know nothing of being a watcher or the work I've been doing."

"Ungrateful, insolent boy. Do you realize how quickly the Council could have you deported? The things that..."

His Father hardly had time to finish his sentence when Wesley's fist smarted across his face. A dark black and blue mark starting to swell right over his right eye. Wes didn't have to turn around to know that Faith was smiling.

"Come on, Faith." Wesley said quickly, grabbing Faith's arm and pulling her up from the chair she was sitting in. "I think we've worn out our welcome and then some." He muttered as he propelled her towards the front door. Their belongings were still upstairs but they were only things and the freedom Wesley felt when he stepped through the front door with Faith by his side was worth more then anything they could have collected over the years.

"Dude, that was wicked!" Faith finally exclaimed when the two of them were walking towards the end of the long driveway. Wesley was sure he would have no problem hailing a cab when they reached the main road.

"Was it?" Wesley asked, suddenly stopping and turning to face her, an odd smile coloring his features.

"Yes! Next time can I hit him?"


End file.
